LOOKING AHEAD GENERAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK The International Monetary Fund’s (“IMF”) forecast of the world economy in 2024 and just ahead is that of a steady but slow growth, showcasing resilience amidst divergence. IMF’s baseline forecast for the world economy is the continued growth at 3.2% during 2024 and 2025, at the same pace as in 2023. Core inflation is generally projected to decline more gradually. The global economy has been surprisingly resilient, despite significant central bank interest rate hikes to restore price stability. Changes in mortgage and housing markets over the pre-pandemic decade of low interest rates would moderate the near-term impact of policy rate hikes. Additionally, dimmer prospects for growth in China and other large emerging market economies will be expected to weigh on trading partners. On the local front, in spite of the turbulent global economy, Malaysia’s economy has performed strongly, registering a gross domestic product (“GDP”) growth of 3.6% in 2023. This was aided by the positive turnaround in exports on higher external demand and stronger private expenditure domestically. Bank Negara’s expectation for inflation is for it to remain controlled for the rest of the year, with headline inflation for 2024 expected to be at 2% to 3.5% and core inflation estimated at between 2% and 3%. According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Malaysia’s economy is expected to grow moderately with the projected growth between 4 - 5% in 2024, driven by domestic demand, sustained and diversified economic structure and coupled with ongoing policy support including the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. It is anticipated that the positive GDP growth momentum will continue in the coming quarters, supported by domestic spending activities continuing to grow on the back of positive labour market conditions, positive income growth and increased tourist arrivals. In addition, external demand will recover as Malaysia stands to benefit from improvements in the global production and international trade, especially growing demand from major trading partners such as China and the United States. HEALTHCARE Since the Group’s involvement, MMC has improved its healthcare service to offer high-quality yet affordable medical care and is now regarded as a healthcare provider of choice by the community. The hospital has steadily increased its range of therapeutic fields to cater to the medical needs of its community and its acceptance is seen in the increase of patient load of 61,189 patients in FY2024, a 9.1% increase over 56,089 patients in FY2023. This precipitated an expansion exercise to which in-patient bed space was increased to 77 beds in FY2024, compared to 57 in FY2023. In line with the Group’s strategy to diversify its revenue stream, the Group has doubled its efforts to strengthen the brand positioning, operational efficiency and financial performance throughout the restructuring and expansion of MMC services. This has led to the maiden contribution of the healthcare division to the Group, with a total contribution of RM5.03 million in the form of management fees entitlement in FY2024. MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine 1.5 Tesla Large bore 70 cm KEY MESSAGES MATRIX CONCEPTS HOLDINGS BERHAD 52
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDgzMzc=